Move on From Here

Gabreilla Moushigo

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Today was really going well, of course that was all about to change. But right now, everything was perfect. Last night, Tifa had slept by his side, on his bed no less. His mind still reeled from the intimacy they had shared. He just couldn't believe that this was happening. He felt almost normal after so many years of guilt and torment.

Tifa was standing next to him, cutting the fat off of the beef. He diced the vegetables on his respective cutting board. They both worked in compatible silence. She washed her hands before shuffling the vegetables off of his cutting board and into a bowl. He felt himself become amused at this, even though the vegetables would be boiled along with the beef she still washed her hands anyway. Before returning to cut up the meat she washed her hands again and dried them briefly on the towel next to the sink.

"You like to wash your hands a lot."

"Habit I guess." Tifa smiled, feeling a little self conscious.

Something in his head warned him about what he was about to say next, but he figured that it would be alright to talk about. "Lucrecia used to do that a lot."

"I guess she would since she was into all that science nonsense." Tifa hadn't realized how that might have sounded before she let it leave her mouth. "I mean, she couldn't… contaminate… or… God I don't know." She was drying her hands still, even though they were already dry. Why did she just say that?

What she just said had irked him a bit. "I wouldn't say what she was doing was nonsense." A part of his brain buzzed in his ear, the same part that warned him not to bring it up in the first place was now telling him to drop it already.

"Well," Tifa was beyond flustered herself; she didn't know what she was saying anymore. "You can't honestly believe what she was doing was good or anything. I mean, she worked with Hojo and everything… and let him have her baby. What kind of mother could do something like that?" Oh God! Just shut up already! Her mouth just kept going on incessantly even though her brain begged it to stop before a disaster came about.

He embedded the knife into the cutting board before he turned a glare at her. She flinched and grabbed the towel and wrung it in her hands. She knew she had just crossed the line with that one. "You didn't know her, you don't know anything about her!"

This was the first time she had ever seen him really angry since that time they had fought against Hojo. To think that he was leveling any portion of that anger at her made her heart squeeze in fear. Then the other part of her mind kicked in, the one that felt justified in saying everything she had said. Then she became angry at him for being angry at her. "I do know she didn't have an ounce of common sense like most scientists. I know she must have been brilliant Vincent, but she thought that she would be alright experimenting on her own baby!" The thought sickened her. "How can you defend someone like that so passionately when she did that to her own child… and after what happened to you?"

He was so angry he was shaking. His fist came down on the counter loudly, so hard that the wood cracked underneath the force. On other circumstances he might have tried to talk to her calmly, he might have tried to tell her that Lucrecia had made a lot of mistakes and lacked some capacity in the common sense department. However, he did think that she was a victim of Hojo, just like he had been. The man had pulled the wool over all of their eyes. Lucrecia was also young and impressionable; being married to such a manipulative man like that. And well… she also had saved him.

Given the most recent events in his life he felt the need to defend her even more, even if he was talking to his current love. There would be no calm conversations now. "How dare you!" He growled. "How dare you accuse her? You don't know anything at all!" He stalked over to her and cornered her into side of the counter. Both of his arms gripped either side of countertop to keep her from escaping. She flinched and looked down at the towel in her hands. He was going to say something he was going to regret now, but he couldn't stop the words from rushing from his mouth. "You say she has no common sense, but what about you!"

At that, she bristled. "What about me?"

"You followed around a man for an entire year that didn't even want you!" He raged. "You know he loved someone else! How could you be so blind!"

"What about you!" She borrowed his earlier phrase. "How can you judge me for loving someone who was available while you had an affair with a married woman!"

She had turned his attack around on him, which angered him to no end. "That was different." He said lamely.

"How was it different Vincent!" Tifa wailed, fisting her hands in the washrag.

"It was different because she loved me back… unlike your adolescent crush on that half wit." He growled, his face almost touching hers. She looked away from the intensity of his gaze, but did not move.

"Well I'm so sorry my feelings are so childish!" She wanted to lay into him so badly, but she was unsure of how he would react to that. She didn't even know how this had escalated as far as it had – but she knew it to be her fault. He must have kept yelling at her, but she wasn't listening anymore. She just twisted her fingers nervously wishing she wouldn't have said a thing.

Vincent looked down at her curiously. When Tifa didn't respond to him but wrung the washrag in her hands he lost it. He grabbed it from her and flung it away. "Are you even listening to me!"

At the physical intrusion she pushed him away, forcefully enough to put him off balance. He fell strait on his posterior. She flew past him and ran to the door. She only turned to glare at him and left with these words. "I followed him because he was my friend! I knew he loved Aerith! The only reason I was with him is because I wanted to see him happy before I left him alone!" She couldn't stop shaking now.

He was stunned into silence, feeling very much like a fool. His temper was cooling and he realized everything thing he had just done and said with a strange kind of horror. He had crossed the line… and now she was going to leave. "Tifa…"

"Shut up!" She barked. "I wanted to come here with you because I thought you loved me!" She was crying now. "I was so happy because I thought that we could finally be together. But now I can see… I can't say anything about her can I? Well I'm sorry I'm not your perfect Lucrecia, Vincent!" Then she said the worst thing she could think of, even though she didn't mean it. "I'm sorry I even came…" She looked away. "I'm sorry I even loved you in the first place." She wrenched the door open and walked through it. Her pride wouldn't let her run back in and take it all back.

All the reflexes in the world and he couldn't do anything but sit there on his ass while she ran out of his life. "What have I done?" He buried his face in his hands.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tifa had spent her entire day running around town trying to keep herself from crying. "Oh! Why did I say that?" She was talking to herself now, causing passersby to stare at her strangely. It got so bad that she finally decided to check into the inn so she would have some privacy to break down in. She managed to get through the door and shut it behind her before she lost it. "Oh," She covered her face with her hands. "Why did I say those things?" She kneeled to the floor before laying down on it to sob brokenly. She knew how touchy he would be about the whole Lucrecia thing. She knew but she kept going anyway. All she wanted was for someone to love her… it wasn't fair. Why did she have to do that… everything was going so perfectly. Now what was she supposed to do? She couldn't go back now. There was no way he would take her back after what she had said. She didn't just insult Lucrecia but told him she wished she never loved him to begin with.

After there were no more tears to cry, she felt thirsty and she couldn't breathe out of her right nostril. The other hole was barely open and was making an odd whistling noise that sounded funny. She picked herself up and went into the bathroom. She blew her nose loudly with the tissues provided. She grabbed a cup, filled it up and drank. The reflection in the mirror was surreal. She surely felt as ugly as she looked right now. She ran the water again before splashing some in her face.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vincent was sitting at the table that Tifa had salvaged from the garbage. His fingers tracing the weird scroll design underneath the glass. He hated this table when it first came in, now it seemed like the most perfect table in the world since Tifa had picked it up.

Tifa had been right, Lucrecia was a brilliant scientist. She worked so hard at what she did that maybe she ignored her baser feelings that would have warned her against being with Hojo and definitely against thinking she could experiment on her own child. While he had already moved on in his heart, he still felt the need to defend her. After all, the woman did save him. He kept reminding himself.

Then again, he could understand how Tifa felt as well. Because of Lucrecia, an innocent child had been warped; Vincent had been experimented on not only by his former love interest but by her cruel husband as well. What Tifa didn't know, however, was that Lucrecia had apologized to him for all that had happened. She admitted to her mistakes without compulsion.

Tifa of course, had no idea - because he never told her. No wonder she said the things she did… she didn't know. It wasn't her fault. Tifa also left him with some biting words, but he knew she didn't mean them… or at least he hoped so.

Silent tears went unheeded as he walked into the kitchen for something to drink. There he saw the damage to the counters he himself had done. The wood was cracked, and the edge where he had held her into place had the strange markings only his left hand could create.

He looked down at his hands at that moment; the ones she had said were so kind. They didn't deserve her praise after what he had done. He let them fall to his sides dejectedly. "I must have… frightened her." He brought his arm up to run it through his hair.

What was he going to do now? He should never have even said those things and he couldn't blame her for leaving now.

Should he just let her go? Wouldn't she be better off without him? Maybe he should, she could be happy with someone else… maybe Cloud would snap out of his eternal funk and realize that he really loved Tifa. He was sure the blond did, he might even jump at the chance to come and get her after what had just happened this morning.

Why did the thought of Cloud coming to get her infuriate him so?

Vincent sighed before he realized what he had to do. He had already let one woman slip through his fingers. He would not let Tifa go without a fight. Right now he needed to pull himself together, find her, apologize and then beg her to come back if necessary. He would not let the past repeat itself. Vincent could stand no more regrets or lost opportunities for pride's sake.

He pulled his arm across his eyes before going to his room to don his headband and cloak. He pulled his gun belt around his waist that hung on the hat rack in the corner. The one Tifa had picked out for him.

He walked down the stairs and out the door. Kalm was a small town, with a little detective work he would find her in no time.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tifa had decided to sneak back into her room to get her things. She was just nearing the house when she heard the knob rattle. She had practically run to the side of the house as she heard the front door squeak as it opened. She watched as Vincent briskly made his way out of their home and down the street into Kalm. She wondered where he was going. Was he going to leave now that she wasn't there anymore or was he just leaving to find work to clear his head? She waited until he was out of hearing range before she tip toed up the stairs and made her way to the door. Usually he locked the door behind him, but today in his rush he had forgotten. He must really be upset.

Tifa made her way up to her room, grabbing her backpack from her side table and grabbing a few of her clothes from the closet. She pulled her cell phone charger out of the wall and placed both it and her cell into the bag. She paused, looking at the night stand. Her hand went to the drawer and pulled it out, a simple velvet choker, with a cross that dangled as a charm, lay inside. Vincent had bought it for her because she thought it had been pretty. She had barely worn it, worried that she might ruin it. Now she put it on now without reservation. She might have left Cloud's expensive engagement ring in her old house with his things, but she wouldn't leave behind a strip of cloth and a piece of silver that Vincent had given her.

She began walking and found herself in Vincent's room. She gave it a look around. She was really going to miss this place. Tears began to prick her eyes again and she wiped her arm across her face angrily as more came. She would miss making him that horrible earl grey tea he loved so much, she was going to miss helping him weed the garden and all the other mundane things they had done around here. She was also going to miss his quite companionship as he sat next to her at night and read the newspaper or surfed around the televisions channels trying to find out what the weather would be like tomorrow.

She was going to miss the smell of old leather and seeing that tattered cloak that should have been replaced with a new one years ago, swing from his shoulders.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vincent was known well enough in town that he could easily ask if anyone had seen his companion. Tifa was a little less known than he was, especially since the two of them rarely left the house together… if at all.

"Oh yes," One woman had said. "I saw that poor girl talking to herself. She mustn't be right in the head."

"Don't speak of things of which you have no idea." Vincent bristled, realizing that those very words had landed him in the mess he was in now.

The woman shrugged, thinking he was very rude and walked away from him. She had no other information for him anyway.

His detective work finally led him to the inn where she had checked into for the night. He questioned the innkeeper, the man suspicious of him. Being a former Turk he usually knew just what to say. "I'm meeting my wife here, her name is Tifa." It felt weird saying that about someone who probably never wanted to see him again.

The inn owner only shook his head with a smile and told him her room number. He wasn't about to give the man a key though, just in case.

Vincent went to her room and knocked on the door, there was no answer since she wasn't even present. He didn't know that of course. "Tifa?" He rapped on the door just a little louder. This time he used his left hand so it would make more of a clanking sound. He sighed, she wasn't answering him and wasn't coming out. One thing left to do. He took a step back. "I'm breaking down the door!" He warned before the door gave way to his shoulder. The pitiful lock snapped against his weight and he stumbled into the room. He flicked on the lights. It was empty.

That only left the bathroom, the hair on the back of his head stood on end as he noticed there was no light on in the only room she could be in. He hesitantly grabbed the door handle before opening it slowly. "Tifa?" He called. He let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. There was nothing.

He left the room, shutting the door behind him as he went. He stomped down the stairs, feeling as if he had been duped. He wasn't going to be deterred so easily, and he would have to remain cordial to that fool of an innkeeper if he wanted any information. "Where is she?" He asked the inn keeper for the second time today. "She wasn't in her room."

The innkeeper didn't have a clue that Vincent had forcefully let himself into the room to find out if she was there or not, other wise he might not have been so quick to answer. "That's right," He shook his head, remembering now. "She said she needed to get something. She seemed urgent." He turned his eyes to the door. "I think I saw her walk to the right as she left."

"Thank you." Vincent decided not to get angry at this man for not providing this information earlier. He couldn't delay his search anymore than it had been already. During his walk he scanned the stores, making sure to get a good look in the windows to see if she was in any of the shops. He doubted she would pick up any supplies, as that wasn't usually her style. His ears rang when he heard a merchant yelling in the market place.

"Chocobos!" The typical salesman with a loud and obnoxious voice rang out with all the others. "They have been raised in captivity and hand fed!" The man realized Vincent had taken an interest. So naturally - he swarmed him. "You look like an intelligent young man, Vincent right? You travel a lot. Wouldn't getting to your destinations be much faster on one of these beauties?" He patted the one with dark black feathers next to him, it warbled gently. "This one looks like she would suit you nicely with her coloring and whatnot."

Vincent gave the giant bird a passing interest. "Did you see a young woman with long dark hair come past here earlier? She was wearing a blue sweater with a black skirt."

"Oh boy did I!" The man clapped his hands together, startling the bird beside him. True enough, the bird did not try to peck the salesman as a wilder Chocobo might. "She bought one of my finest Chocobos, a very pretty yellow one." He nudged Vincent familiarly. "What a body too, vavoom." He made curvy gesture with his hands. "Do you know her?" Little did this moron know, he was talking about someone completely different than Tifa. Not to mention she was blond and had an orange sweater. Vincent didn't know that though.

"Yes," Vincent wanted to strangle him, but decided against it. "Is this Chocobo next to you faster than the one she bought?"

"Oh," The merchant smelled a sale coming on and patted the dark bird fondly. "Yes! They might be from the same clutch but this little girl is one of the fastest and most gentle darlings I have ever raised." Then he added. "It'll be sad to part with her."

Vincent sighed; this was going to take a while. "How much?"

After haggling, buying a saddle, harness, food and various preening tools Vincent realized what all went into taking care of a Chocobo. He didn't know why almost every little girl wanted one of these birds, if they had any idea how much time and effort it took to care for one of these things they would think twice.

"You might want to grab a scoop too, other wise your yard might get a little messy." The man offered helpfully and Vincent groaned again.

Vincent needed to go home again for supplies before he went after here, but before then… "Did the woman you meet earlier tell you where she was doing?"

"Edge I think." The salesman scratched his head.

"Of course." Vincent sighed, shaking his head as if to clear it. "Thank you for your help."

"No, thank you!" The salesman gushed. "If you need anything else please visit me in the market, I have a stall here every other day."

Vincent decided not to talk to the man anymore; he didn't want to listen to anymore pleasantries. Without further ado he grabbed the reigns to the bird and led her back to the house. He would need to offload most of this garbage there, because while traveling he knew he wouldn't need a shovel anyway.

"Tifa," He said to himself quietly, "Please wait for me."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tifa had decided to linger a bit in the house when it became apparent Vincent wouldn't return. She laid down on his bed for a minute, just a minute so she remember what his scent was like before leaving. She supposed it was cliché and perhaps a little silly, but it might make things easier once everything was all said and done.

It had been only a little while, but the short time she had been here felt like a dream. She hugged Vincent's pillow to her face. Maybe she was just exhausted from the day, or maybe it was her overwhelming confidence he wouldn't return, but whatever it was, she fell asleep in Vincent's bed for the second time since she had lived there.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vincent flew up the stairs to the porch and burst through the door. He needed to leave as soon as possible. His eyes noted a few things were out of place since he left them. Did he leave the door unlocked? He was cursing himself vehemently before he set off to make a quick scan of the house. His feet brought him first to Tifa's room. He saw that her backpack and cell phone was missing. Had she come back after he left? He searched through her things now; it might give him some clue as to where she ran off to. Even though the salesman had told him Edge, he had seemed unsure. Vincent only found a few comics, a romance novel and a book called "My Chocobo, My Friend" Which outlined the various Chocobos, their personalities and abilities. It even gave in depth information about their care. Obviously Tifa had been considering getting a Chocobo at some point, which made him believe even more that the salesman was speaking of Tifa.

He needed to get to his room now, get his things and get the hell out before she made her way to Edge. If she came into Cloud's care, the boy might not let him near her so he could apologize.

He walked up the stairs with a brisk pace; he didn't have any more time to lose. He swung open the door and as soon as his first footstep hit the floor his eyes were drawn to the bed. Tifa had obviously been sleeping just a moment ago from her disheveled appearance. She sprang out of bed with a start, looking incredibly guilty. She was fidgeting again with her hands. He saw the present he gave her around her neck and felt a surge of hope.

Tifa looked up briefly and noticed that Vincent was looking at her with a blank expression. She was glad he didn't seem angry anymore, but she wanted to leave quickly just in case his temper flared up again. "I wasn't going to take anything." She muttered, "I'm sorry, I'll just leave now." Her hand went for her backpack only to realize Vincent was making his way to her now. "I'm sorry!" She didn't know what else to say as he cornered her for the second time today.

"Don't say that." His hand reached up for her face and she flinched away. It hurt him to see her do that. "I would never hurt you." He let his hand touch her check tenderly before cupping the side of her face. "I should be the one to apologize, Tifa."

"But I said all of those horrible things," Tifa still hadn't looked at him yet, ashamed. "I didn't mean it."

"I know Tifa." He put his arms around her at that point, wanting to show her that he still cared. He wasn't going to let her go. "It's not your fault." He looked at her.

"But…"

He knew where this conversation would go if he allowed it to continue – a circle. He cut her off by putting his lips to her mouth. "I think that we are both sorry for what happened earlier. Will you forgive me?" Vincent wanted to stop this now, and move on to the next step. It wasn't going to happen if they only said they were sorry all night.

"Yes, I forgive you." She touched leaned her head up until their foreheads touched. "Do you forgive me?"

"Of course I do." He kissed her nose. "Tifa," He began cautiously.

"Yes?"

"I think that we need move on from here." He spoke so softly. "I think that… you and I need to talk more." Those same thoughts streamed through his mind all day, it was nice to finally get them out.

She nodded at the wisdom of his words.

"Maybe you can talk to me about your past… and your time with Cloud." He moved his hands around to cup hers between his. "Then maybe I can tell you what happened in these past few months." He laced his fingers with hers and realized just how small they were compared to his, he looked up again. "We should talk about things, things we don't know about each other… and things that bother us." Vincent knew that it would be especially hard for him in this particular department, but he was more than willing to try. From her expression, she was too. "I'll try not to react like that again, ok?"

She nodded again, "I'll try to ask questions instead of making assumptions."

"As will I." Despite her forgiveness he still felt a pang of guilt from accusing her earlier; she probably felt the same though. They would just have to get over that and push ahead.

Tears fell out of her eyes despite herself. "You've never been that angry before."

"I know," He ran his fingers through her hair, the way she liked. "I didn't mean to scare you." He remembered how she flinched at his touch earlier. "No matter how mad I get… know that I will never harm you… alright?"

"Alright."

"Good." The corners of his mouth turned up slightly, not quite a smile.

Tifa started to titer and outright laugh. He chuckled a bit, a little less heartily than she. The stress from the day was finally releasing itself. "I cannot believe we fought like that." She covered her mouth. He nodded his head slightly in agreement with her. Her face scrunched up a bit. "Oh, but I am sorry I told you that I wished I didn't love you."

"Tifa," His face was serious again, telling her that that was all said and done.

"I know," She shifted her feet under her foolishly. Then she had an idea and put her arms around his neck. "I love you Vincent."

To hear her say it again warmed him. He rested his chin atop her head and closed his eyes. "And I love you, Tifa." Their stomachs growled in unison just then. He was the first to break the silence. "Let's get something to eat and we can talk."

She realized that the food that tried to make earlier was probably ruined. There were half chopped vegetables on the counter, the meat - Vincent had thrown out a little while after she left. The pot's contents had been uncovered and the water evaporated, making the stew an inedible paste. She wasn't going to argue. "Ok, let's go."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author Notes:

My god this is a huge chapter! I was tempted to split it into two earlier, but I wanted them to fight and then resolve their problems in the same section. I know it seemed like it would go on forever, but they figured it out.

Why even write this chapter to begin with? Because I think things needed to be said and I think that all couples fight. While their fight involved certain parties I don't think it was one of those "Holy crap – don't insult my woman!" things so much as it was them saying the wrong thing about their friends at the wrong time and whatnot. Ever have one of those fights were you tell your honey bunch that all of his/her friends are a bunch of drunkards/gossiping hens. Oh yeah, those never turn out well…

And don't you just love those fights you have with your significant other that just escalates into something so weird that you don't even know why you are fighting anymore? I sure don't, but the make-ups are pretty funny when you both realize how stupid you were for fighting in the first place about something so obscure…

If you haven't enjoyed the pleasure of fighting with your spouse/significant other, count yourself lucky and realize it will happen to you one day - hehe.

I think Tifa and Vincent are going to get used to being together but do I think the snippiness will still be there at times when they are trying to figure each other out. I don't think they will have a fight like this one again. I believe they will learn to talk about their differences in the future without having to resort to I-hate-you's and I-hope-I-never-see-you-again's.

I just can't wait to write about the Chocobo Vincent bought…. hehe…

Some Extra Notes: I just corrected a few glaring grammatical errors… and I forgot to mention something. "My Chocobo, My Friend" – I took that off of "My Parrot, My Friend" which is an actual book on the different types of parrots, their personalities… and as you have probably guessed – their care as well. It's a really good read. Since Chocobos have parrot like bills – I might give them some of the personalities that parrots but without the pecking. If a cockatoo can snap your finger off – imagine what a Chocobo can do? (Shivers).

On to the reviews:

Vinny the Vampire – I've been updating pretty quickly because I had most of my story (so far) already written – I just needed to flesh it out a bit. I still have some stuff written out to expand upon but I'm going to have to really get working soon. Also – I have been sick for the past two days – so I had four days to write a bunch of stuff while not getting paid. Doh! (Poor). I still feel queasy but I know I have to work at some point.

I know – Cloud is a dweeb of sorts. There were many things I was trying to do with this chapter but it ended up a bit jumbled. I had Cloud's call as a safety measure just in case I didn't know how to stop what they were doing. I ended up giving Vincent some self control so it wasn't needed… but since I already wrote it… Hehe. Vincent definitely needs some but I think he's willing to wait. I really can't wait to delve into my story more about his sexual desires and whatnot. I think he's been pretty submissive in most stories – I'd like to make him a little bit more domineering.

Oh! Plushies! I want some! I can't imagine a Vincent plush – must be a little like a chibi Vincent or something? That would be soooo cute!

Yes – Seymour! Hehe! I mostly love him for his English voice actor – but I also enjoyed looking at him. He is very tall – which I love – and has that awesome blue hair. I loved the blue lines on his face and his great clothes. The lines made him look organic and his long fingers make him tree like. Very earthy – love it!

I think another author mentioned that Azule looked like a bastard child from Seymour and an Ogre – I'd have to agree (sob). I actually thought of him when I looked at Azule – but he's definitely not as pretty as Seymour.

I guess I also liked him because not only was he able to fight (I think he was a monk) but he was able to cast magic as well. He was an even harder fight than Yevon himself!

KamikazeUdon – Hey! I usually separate my answers by number or reviews – but since you left so many I think I'm going to just answer you all at once on this line. If you leave multi reviews later on – I'll make sure to separate them.

Fluffy – I have a tendency to do that a little too often. I usually write one shots – which most of the time are nothing but fluff. I have to break away from all that and really work on something happening. I'll try to get better though hehe.

Pervert Vincent – Yup! I think I'm going to be headed in that vein – he's not going to be a total freak but I think that it's about time he got a little perverted – at least with Tifa. Glad you liked the lemon.

Thank you for all of your kind words, I'll do my best to continue and I'll definitely check out your fictions when I get a chance. The computer I'm at right now isn't letting me bring your stories up or I would probably have read them already haha.

Jen – I'll have to check back over my chapter again later. I have a tendency to over use words sometimes and it really messes up a story.

I haven't seen Werewolf – but I have seen Ninja scroll. Something similar happened – were these two people were getting it on and someone needed to report to the head guy right away. The guy seemed utterly unaffected by having sex and just kept talking normally. Yeah right!

I'm glad at least the ending of the lemon was a good hehe.

Yes – Vincent is pretty much a stereotypical vampire. I thought it would be funny to play yet another trick on dear Vincent. It'll just make the revenge against Cid all the sweeter! Did I mention that I already wrote the chapter where Vincent takes his revenge? It'll be a while before anyone reads it – I need to put some chapters out first – but it's great…

Daylo – Haha – glad you liked the chapter. I wanted to get Vincent into a compromising position for the heck of it. I love seeing serious Vincent but I also love catching him at weird moments too. There are two sides to every coin I guess. (I hope that expression works there).

To answer your question about my zestiness – I love writing and when I'm not at my computer I'm making post-it notes about where this story is going. I think I've got most of it figured out for once – rather than just writing with no particular destination in sight. This is the first time I've really written something and updated almost non-stop. I think it's because it's more modern – they have cell phones and whatnot and have the ability to have the same problems as any of us do. It's a bit easier than a historical romance. I, for the most part, just need to pay attention to character rather than historical facts and cultural traits. It's so much fun doing something modern. Plus – its fantasy – magic exists and so does mad science… anything goes! (Yay!) I love Final Fantasy!

Lady Shiva – Glad you liked the lemon – there are more from where that came from hehe.